The home truth about growth (From Borehamwood Times)

The home truth about growth

8:20am Wednesday 3rd December 2008

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The Government is demanding thousands of homes be built in Hertsmere by 2021 and the target is expected to grow by 60 per cent. Janaki Mahadevan investigates.

Controversy surrounded the announcement in May that Hertsmere will have to accommodate at least another 5,000 homes over the next 13 years with a minimum of 83,200 for Hertfordshire.

The East of England Plan, drawn up by the East of England Regional Assembly (EERA) and approved by Hazel Blears, the secretary of State for communities and local government, included the figures after six years of consultation with local authorities, residents and landowners.

But this figure is now set to increase with the Government asking the region to extend the plan to 2031. Regional officials say more than 4,000 extra homes will have to be built each year between 2021 and 2031 to reach new targets.

Hertsmere Borough Council leader Morris Bright is the borough’s representative on EERA. He said: “I think the time frame is wholly unrealistic. I think that shows the Government doesn’t really want a proper consultation.

“No one is denying homes need to be built. It is a question of where they will go and if there is the infrastructure to support them.

“If the Government is not prepared to supply the funds and time to build the infrastructure to support these new homes, it cannot be done. We can’t even get basic road repairs done so how are we going to build new roads?”

Mr Bright said the Government would be letting people down if the plans were not thought through “to the last degree”.

He added: “I don’t think anything is going to get forced through at the end of 2009. We need to plan properly for the next quarter of a century.”

Hertsmere Borough Council has previously stated it would try to limit development to land previously built upon, leaving the Green Belt as a last resort. But with the increases in housing targets, further pressure will be put on the authority to accept applications on protected land.

Councillor Derrick Ashley, Hertfordshire County Council’s executive member for planning and member of EERA, said: “We understand people in Hertsmere are concerned about the loss of Green Belt and we would support the council 100 per cent in its intentions to protect the land.

“But it is going to be very difficult to refuse applications with the further increase in housing targets.”

EERA is the regional planning body for the East of England and has a legal duty to prepare and put into force the East of England Plan, which sets out a framework for new housing and infrastructure.

It was established in 1999 to promote the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of the east of England by creating regional strategies.

EERA has 105 members consisting of 72 local authority members and 32 ‘stakeholders’, which include people from trade unions, environmental organisations, employee groups, the voluntary sector and the NHS.

Councils must recommend potential development sites by early next year before EERA publishes its findings in December 2009. After a public consultation in 2010, the document will be passed into law in 2011. Local authorities will then be legally compelled to allow the building of whatever numbers are allocated. EERA will be phased out from 2010 and its powers handed over to the East of England Development Agency, a Government quango set up to promote business.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS
February 2004: EERA recommends 72,000 new homes be built in Hertfordshire. No locations for new houses are identified.
November 2004: EERA undertakes a public consultation and submits to the Government a revised draft plan for 79,000 new homes in Hertfordshire.
December 2004 to March 2005: Hertfordshire County Council raises concerns about the scale of development proposed and the ability of the county’s infrastructure to cope. About 20,000 Hertfordshire residents respond to the consultation.
December 2004: EERA withdraws its plan after the Government refuses to guarantee funding for the infrastructure needed.
November 2005 to March 2006: a Government panel examines the draft plan. The county council calls for the scale of development to be reduced to 66,000 homes.
June 2006: the Government panel recommends increasing the number of new homes in Hertfordshire to 83,200.
December 2006 to March 2007: the Government publishes its proposed changes to the draft plan for public consultation.
June 2007: the Government extends the timetable for publication of the final plan, pending further research and consultation.
May 2008: Hazel Blears, the Secretary of State for communities and local government, publishes the East of England Plan stating a minimum of 83,200 be built in Hertfordshire by 2021, with 5,000 in Hertsmere.
June 2008: the county council mounts a legal challenge to the Government’s East of England Plan. The case is not expected to be heard in the High Court until spring 2009.
November 2008: EERA begins consultation on a review of the East of England Plan with a view to extend it to 2031 and include further rises in housing.

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